1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to a hand operable scoop and more particularly to a hand operable scoop which is especially suitable for the collection and disposal of animal excrement.
2. Prior Art
In the past few years there has been an increasing public concern regarding the problem of environmental pollution caused by the prevalent practice of animal pet owners permitting their animals to drop solid excrement in public areas. This problem is especially acute in urban areas where there is little wooded area or other unpopulated land where the presence of animal excrement would not cause a problem. The problem is compounded by the fact that notwithstanding this dearth of free space, the pet population in large urban areas continues to rise. Consequently a serious sanitation problem as well as an aesthetic problem exists.
In attempts to combat this problem, many communities have enacted ordinances which make pet owners liable to a fine for failure to clean up solid animal excrement left by their pets. Even in communities which do not have such local ordinances, many pet owners who have a sense of civic responsibility do undertake to clean up after their pets. Accordingly, there is a need to have a simple inexpensive easy to use scoop device which not only permits easy removal of excrement but also acts as a sanitary disposable container.
There have been several devices proposed for the collection and disposal of animal excrement or other unsavory material. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,738,697 there is disclosed a portable collector apparatus which has a disposable container including hingedly connected halves releasably supported by tongs at the end of an extended cane-like handle. The tongs are closed by operating the slide rod within the handle and the tongs as they close swing the container halves closed about the solid excrement. A similar device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,733,098 which apparatus includes a cane-like handle at the bottom of which is disposed a pair of jaws. A hand operated actuator at the top of the handle is connected to the jaws by a rod or cable. A disposable cardboard container is releasably held in the open jaws and when the jaws are closed the container is closed and locked in a closed position. A problem with both of these prior art devices is that they each have several cooperating elements and consequently are relatively expensive to manufacture. Another problem with each of these devices is that the container halves are located at the end of a cane-like member. In use, the container halves must be positioned about the material to be scooped up and must be held in this position as the container halves are closed. Under ideal conditions an individual can use two hands, one to steady the device, and the other to actuate the container closing mechanism. However, in actual use, the individual will have his animal on a leash which leaves only one hand free to both steady and actuate the device. Any slight movement of the individual's hand will seriously affect the positioning of the container halves. This problem is made more acute by the fact that the animal may be quite active or restless and will not stand still or sit while the individual is trying to scoop the material. In addition these devices must be carried around as walking canes by the individual as he walks his animal and consequently may be considered by him to be an unwanted accessory and as a result, the device will not be used.
In another prior art device as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,685,088 a paperboard scoop is provided which can be held in the user's hand. While this device is more compact than the aforementioned devices, it suffers from the drawback that it is formed from a flat paperboard sheet and consequently is structurely weak. Moreover, there are many joints and seams through which the animal excrement may seep.
It is towards elimination of these and other problems that the present invention is directed.